Wah Cricket in Dubai


Everyone wanted to know the answer, and Pakistan coach Micky Arthur just popped the ‘question’ to Mohammad Shahzad at the breakfast table.  “What is your score on the yo-yo Shahzad,” asked Arthur. Without flinching for a second, Shahzad coolly said, “It is 20 sir,” he said.  


Arthur, a stickler for fitness and work ethics, almost dropped his toast and sausages from the plate, “What are you saying Shahzad, 20? Really? How is that possible,” He asked. Shahzad grinned, “10 on the first day, and 10 on the second day. I give my yo-yo over two days. So my score is 20,” Shahzad said and walked off, leaving behind pearls of laughter and a shell-shocked Arthur.


A world-famous paunch in modern-day cricket, dark stubble and a walk with swagger, Shahzad carries his sense of humour and attitude at the crease. Against India on Tuesday, Shahzad launched an uncomplicated but calculated assault on the Indian bowling attack, particularly the fast bowlers and especially on the poor debutant Deepak Chahar.


Anything pitched up had to be dispatched to the stands. An aerial shot provides a quicker dispatch. When Indian bowlers didn’t provide him room, he shuffled outside leg, teased the bowlers by exposing his three stumps, and shattered the belief with a smack. Shahzad reached his fifth in just 35 balls and his fifth ODI hundred in 88 balls and scored over 90% of his team’s tally in the powerplay. His innings of 124 gave some protein to the Afghanistan total and added some energy into the dead rubber.






Shahzad isn’t concerned if he looks ugly while batting. “Bas runs banna chahiye bhaijaan, kaise bhi” he says, which he made, quickly, to entertain the sparse crowd at the Dubai International Stadium.          


The only time Shahzad became conscious of his style of play was at Bangalore in his team’s first ever Test match. Shahzad tried the “copybook tuk-tuk cricket because he didn’t want to insult Test cricket, and especially because it was his first ever game in whites,” but promises that he has learnt from his failure to now stick to his normal style of batting.


Shahzad came into prominence with his much-declared love for MS Dhoni, worshipping him as his idol; not just copying his famous helicopter shot but also forcing his teammates into calling him MS and not Shahzad and keeping his jersey number to 77.


On Tuesday, Shahzad decided to profess his love for Shikhar a bit, tried his best to jump in air as much as he can, and then imbibed Shikhar Dhawan’s SRK style of celebration. Till the India game, Shahzad made news only for reporting an approach for Afghan Premier League, but this innings may just turn the talk towards a stint in the coveted Indian Premier League. Now that, we all know his mandatory yo-yo score!